Word Origin & History

invalid 1635, "not strong, infirm," also "of no legal force," from L. invalidus "not strong, infirm, weak, feeble," from in- "not" + validus "strong." Meaning "infirm from sickness, disease, or injury" is from 1642. The noun is first recorded 1704, originally of disabled military men. Invalidate is from 1649. Invalides is short for Fr. Hôtel des Invalides, home for old and disabled soldiers in Paris.

Example Sentences for invalid

Flora, in a measure, outgrew her bodily infirmities, but she was always an invalid.

"The Tinkham Brothers" were the devoted sons of an invalid mother.

One of the first considerations in caring for an invalid is the ventilation of the sick room.

"So, this is the invalid," she said, halting abruptly before him.

A woman dressed in a gray cloth dress, as in the hospitals, was bending over the invalid, giving him a drink.

I shall look in this evening to see how the invalid is getting on.'

Have you not observed how this insignificant compulsive act initiated us into the intimate life of the invalid?

I am forming her; her mother is something of an invalid, as I think I have told you.

No one was there but the young woman who acted as nurse to the invalid.